Current Trends
Renewable energy in the United States accounted for 12.1 percent of the domestically produced electricity in 2012. California is a leading state and around 20 percent of California's electricity comes from renewable sources.
The United States has some of the best renewable energy resources in the world, which have the potential to meet a rising and significant share of the nation's energy demand. A quarter of the U.S. land area has winds strong enough to generate electricity at the same price as natural gas and coal.
Many of the new technologies that harness renewables — including wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuels — are, or soon will be, economically competitive with the fossil fuels that meet 85 percent of U.S. energy needs. Dynamic growth rates are driving down costs and spurring rapid advances in technologies. Energy technologies also receive government subsidies. In 2010, federal government subsidies for electricity production from renewables, fossil fuels, and nuclear were $6560 million, $1843 million and $2499 million respectively.
All but four U.S. states now have incentives in place to promote renewable energy, while more than a dozen have enacted new renewable energy laws in recent years.
Renewable energy suffered a political setback in the United States in September 2011 with the bankruptcy of Solyndra, a company that had received a $535 million federal loan guarantee.
| Year | Hydro | Geothermal | Waste | Wood | CSP | Utility PV | Rooftop PV | Onshore Wind | Offshore Wind | Renewable Total |
U.S. Total |
% Renewable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 264.33 | 14.49 | 15.04 | 38.66 | 0.555 | 10.34 | 0 | 343.44 | 3858.45 | 8.90% | ||
| 2003 | 275.81 | 14.24 | 15.81 | 37.53 | 0.534 | 11.19 | 0 | 355.29 | 3883.18 | 9.15% | ||
| 2004 | 268.42 | 14.81 | 15.42 | 38.12 | 0.575 | 14.14 | 0 | 351.48 | 3970.56 | 8.85% | ||
| 2005 | 270.32 | 14.69 | 15.42 | 38.86 | 0.550 | 17.81 | 0 | 357.65 | 4055.42 | 8.82% | ||
| 2006 | 289.25 | 14.57 | 16.10 | 38.76 | 0.508 | 26.59 | 0 | 385.77 | 4064.70 | 9.49% | ||
| 2007 | 247.51 | 14.64 | 16.52 | 39.01 | 0.612 | 34.45 | 0 | 352.75 | 4156.74 | 8.49% | ||
| 2008 | 254.83 | 14.84 | 17.73 | 37.30 | 0.864 | 55.36 | 0 | 417.72 | 4119.39 | 10.14% | ||
| 2009 | 273.44 | 15.01 | 18.16 | 36.05 | 0.74 | 0.16 | 1.93 | 74.12 | 0 | 419.59 | 3950.31 | 10.62% |
| 2010 | 257.08 | 15.67 | 18.59 | 37.61 | 0.82 | 0.46 | 3.21 | 94.95 | 0 | 428.38 | 4125.06 | 10.38% |
| 2011 | 325.07 | 16.70 | 19.79 | 36.95 | 1.81 | 119.75 | 0 | 520.07 | 4105.73 | 12.67% | ||
The United States uses about 4,000 billion kWh/year of electricity, in 2012, and about 98 Quadrillion btu/year (30,000 billion kWh). Due to efficiency improvements this is expected to drop to 15,000 billion kWh by 2050. The United States has the potential of installing 11 million MW of onshore wind power and 4 million MW of offshore wind power, capable of generating over 47,000 billion kWh. Solar has the potential of installing 10 to 20 million MW of concentrated solar power in the Southwest, capable of generating over 10,000 billion kWh. Other than geothermal, no other resources come close to providing the energy demands of the United States in a post fossil fuel world.
Read more about this topic: Renewable Energy In The United States
Famous quotes containing the words current and/or trends:
“Through this broad street, restless ever,
Ebbs and flows a human tide,
Wave on wave a living river;
Wealth and fashion side by side;
Toiler, idler, slave and master, in the same quick current glide.”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)
“A point has been reached where the peoples of the Americas must take cognizance of growing ill-will, of marked trends toward aggression, of increasing armaments, of shortening tempers—a situation which has in it many of the elements that lead to the tragedy of general war.... Peace is threatened by those who seek selfish power.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)